Yukon Community Theatre | thebravestcanadian

Memories of 1975-77 Community Theatre in the Yukon — Part 5: The Mousetrap

November 30, 2024

by Sam McBride

In early January 1977 the Whitehorse Drama Club met to consider options for a spring production.

Someone suggested doing Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”, as it was setting records as the world’s longest-running play in London. The group agreed that it would be a great show to put on, but it was thought unlikely that the performance rights would be available for an amateur club like ours. When we found out the play was unavailable in England, but available for rent in other countries, we got quite excited about doing it.

Having seen the show in London in ’75, I knew the show was do-able for us because there was only one set and eight characters.

Whitehorse Star article on the production.

poster and program cover design forby Lottie Hutton for WDC’s “The Mousetrap”

Scenes from our spring production of “The Mousetrap”.

Putting on “Mousetrap” was certainly a thrill for all of us at the Whitehorse Drama Club. There were large, enthusiastic and appreciative audiences for the three-show run.

A couple of months later I was offered a higher-level job by Cominco Ltd. in Trail, B.C., where my parents and large extended family lived, just an hour’s drive from my boyhood home of Nelson.

Memories of Community Theatre 1975-77 in the Yukon — Part Three: Whitehorse Drama Club presents Ira Levin play “Veronica’s Room”

November 29, 2024

by Sam McBride

After a summer break, the Whitehorse Drama Club met in early September 1976 to consider options for a show to do that fall.

One of the names that came up in brain-storming was American playwright Ira Levin. Born in 1929 in New York, Levin was know for works like “Rosemary’s Baby”, “Boys from Brazil” and “Stepford Wives”, each with intriguing plots and story twists.

Someone noticed that Levin’s 1973 play “Veronica’s Room” had received good reviews and was available for productions by amateur theatre companies. The club executive bought a copy of the chilling mystery thriller, took turns reading, and decided to go with it.

It was a big change of pace from the old-fashioned melodrama we did in the drama festival in Dawson City in the spring. A young lady named Veronica finds herself trapped in a terrifying situation, persuaded to impersonate the long-dead daughter of an elderly couple.